STAR WARS: Enemy of the Republic
by Riptor25
Summary: A lone Geonosian's journey as he fights for his way of life against those who wish to take it away...the Galactic Republic!
1. Chapter 1

STAR WARS: ENEMY OF THE REPUBLIC

Chapter 1

Oorvo Glikk watched as the Republic gunships swooped down from the highlands into the low plain that the fledgling Confederacy of Independent Systems occupied. He watched as they cleared a landing zone, watched as they disgorged their platoons of humans coated in shining, white armor, and as those same humans began to open fire on his people. His wings quivered with anger, and he clicked out a curse. They were heading for the Spires; a grouping of sacred hives containing living quarters, with their immense droid foundries underneath.  
Six legged Republic walkers-like giant mechanical roga-trudged foward, raining fiery death upon his fellow warriors. Letting out a high pitched trill, filled with righteous fury, he took flight on his thin, durable wings, ascending into the arid sky.  
He readied his sonic blaster, wanting desperately to make the Republic pay for daring to invade the Queen's planet. Oorvo found a pillar and perched himself upon it and looked down to see a new group of humans exiting another gunship. Leveling his sonic blaster on the lead trooper, he was just about to squeeze the trigger when he felt a niggling in the back of his mind. The Queen was calling him. Oorvo was not one to ignore the Queen's order. He was an extension of her will. Lowering his blaster, he took flight once more. She wanted him back at the Spires. The Republic…clones…were trying to infiltrate. He would rather sacrifice his life than let them tread on the Geonosians' great forge.

Oorvo had gained immediate updates via his hive link throughout the exhausting flight to the Spires. According to reports from his warrior brethren, the Confederate leaders had already fled the system, and their leader, Count Dooku, was in the process of escaping as well. Things were not looking good for their new resistance, and what he saw on his way to the Spires confirmed that presumption. Hulking masses of slag that used to be Confederate artillery littered the landscape. Billows of deep black smoke columned out of them as if the vehicles' essences were slowly being drawn out of their twisted and bent frames. The ground around them was no different-shattered battle droids were everywhere. Enormous piles of them, like perverted shrines, dotted the battlefield. No doubt the clones had made them.  
The arid plains became progressively quieter as he continued, the battle back behind him, and Confederate staging areas ahead. He wished he could have been back at the battle-to have fought for the glory of his Queen, but he had her direct orders.  
Oorvo finally arrived at the Spires, his wings quaking with the strain he had put on them. He made known to his Queen that he had arrived, and that he was awaiting further instruction. Mere milliseconds passed before his next directive was given: "Republic has entered spires. Defend Spires. Kill clones. Multiple warriors already engaging." Oorvo was taken aback. The clones were already here? He shuttered to think of what they had already done. He would see to it that they were killed. Not just for his people, but for his Queen.

Oorvo entered the facility via one of the many small worker ducts that perforated the spire. He emerged from the tunnel to find himself looking in from the ceiling onto one of the thousands of catacombs connecting the hive above to the droidworks and the foundries beneath. Dropping from the tunnel, he immediately caught the scent of death, mingled with the smell of ozone from discharged blasters.  
Looking around the dimly lit corridor, Oorvo saw no bodies, but the rocky walls were pocked and scorched with the aftereffects of blaster fire, and there were dark golden stains from where either the workers or warriors had been slaughtered by the Republic clones. The lack of bodies indicated that worker drones had already cleared this path. Every Geonosian had their assigned task. A drone had to keep efficiency up, whereas warriors like himself had to protect the hive against intruders. As he continued through the maze of catacombs, the stains became fresher. He traveled through several more corridors before he found one where the bodies still littered the floor.  
He continued, flying through doors that led in and out of facilities, living quarters, and all variations of other chambers, seeing more and more of his fellow Geonosians murdered-their broken, mangled bodies strewn haphazardly across the floors; worker drones carefully dragging them out of the way. His wings buzzing with anger, he stalked over to one of the worker drones about to move a body, grabbing its head and turning it towards him so that he would have its full attention.  
"Who did this, drone? What they look like? Your Queen commands you to speak!" He clicked furiously, making sure to speak in short bursts to keep the simple drone's attention.  
The drone looked in either direction, trying to turn its knobby head, but found that the warrior's grasp was immovable. It grasped at Oorvo's arms as it spoke in its short high pitched utterances, looking everywhere but in the warrior's eyes, "Men. All white shells. Some stripes of color. Four of them," it looked around nervously again, "They shoot anything that moves. We wait. Then perform tasks given by great hive Queen. Then another came. Yellow patches on white shell. We hid again. This one stop a lot. Emits short speaking with talk box. Speak to 'Forward Command Center'."  
The drone began to stutter, looking at some messes on the floor that he was obviously commanded to clean. Oorvo did not bother acknowledging it, shoving the drone to the floor. He would kill these clones and feed their corpses to the creatures of the Petranaki Arena.  
Taking a quick pause, Oorvo relayed this information to his Queen. What he got back was his Queen's refinement of the information; the four clones were commandos of the Republic sent to sabotage further production of droids, and assassinate key leaders. The other clone was an engineer, sent after the commandos to relay information back to the Republic leaders.  
She ordered him to continue, to close the gap and kill any clones he found. Oorvo clicked his acknowledgement more to himself than to anyone in particular, and continued. It wasn't long at all before he heard a voice echoing in the hallway ahead. Oorvo climbed onto the ceiling, ready to catch the clone off guard. Slowly, methodically, he continued forward, hungry for revenge.

CT-9967, or Amp as his brothers called him, stopped to unpack the mobile communications spike for his regular check-in. "Intel never gets us the right kit for the job," he mumbled as he set up the spike. "'Armor comms will work fine in the catacombs, soldier. Just get on with your work as ordered, soldier.' Heh. If I was in with Intelligence I'd actually do my job and issue the right kit starting out. None of this bulky 'add-on kit'. I'd perform to expected parameters." He set up the last leg of the tripod, and plugged the array into his helmet's comm unit. With a final sigh, he removed his helmet, taking out the comlink from his helmet package, and began his report, "CT-9967 to FCP Gamma. CT-9967 to FCP Gamma, Forward Command Post do you read?"  
There was a pause filled with white noise from the comm before a reply burst from the earpiece, somewhat distorted by static, but still understandable, "This is FCP Gamma. What is the progress of Shen Squad?"  
"The commandos are doing fine," Amp replied, somewhat sullen, "Leaving quite a mess wherever they go…as usual."  
"Don't worry trooper, you'll get your chance to squash some bugs. Now what do you have for us about that hive's layout?"

The clone was having a conversation through a communications unit. The Queen's voice urged; now was the time to strike, before any valuable secrets were revealed. Slowly, a pair of chitinous arms extended from the ceiling. The bony hands at the end began to form around the human's neck. Only when it was too late did the clone notice. Oorvo gripped the clone's neck in his hands, pulling him, gasping, towards the ceiling. Then, with a quick jerk to the side and a sickening snap, the struggle ceased, and the clone's body fell in a heap of armor on the floor.  
Disgusting. Oorvo would not let such abominations steal sacred Geonosian secrets. He dropped from the ceiling, brushing off his hands the human's perspiration. He would find the four other clones, and end them. Oorvo clicked to himself, listening to the fading sounds of the communication unit's repeating call of "Trooper! Respond!" as he pressed onward.


	2. Chapter 2

Like a well oiled machine, Shen Squad moved deeper into the catacombs. They had been pressing inward for nearly an hour, tracking at least 2 clicks of tunnel that they had traveled so far, with plenty of resistance along the way. Strangely enough, it seemed that they hadn't run into any hardened enemy fortifications. This worried Dice, Shen's slicer. He lived by the motto 'P for Plenty', but this was just too easy.

"You guys get the feeling there's something off about how easy this is? How come all the bugs we've seen so far don't look like the holos Intel sent us?" he asked to no one in general as the group came to a halt.

Odds, the demolitions expert, stepped in something with an audible squish, and let loose a long stream of curses, "I dunno," He said, trying to wipe the foul substance off, "maybe those were just drones; workers maybe. Who cares? They're bugs, we squash bugs. Simple. Don't think so far into it."

"If you two are done contemplating your places in the galaxy, would you mind getting this door open?" Flack said, gesturing to the door in front of them. "I'm beginning to think we need to have a nice knitting session to discuss the finer parts of life."

The rest of the clones chuckled, "Plenty of time for that when we're dead," Neg rumbled, placing a detcharge on the door as Dice moved to the control panel next to the door.

Several seconds later, Dice spliced the holocam feeds from the next room into his helmet's HUD, and linked it so the rest of Shen Squad could see. The next room looked like a long hallway, slowly transitioning from a Geonosian hive tunnel to a more uniform, durasteel hallway leading to a large magnetically sealed door on the far end; presumably the entrance to the droidworks they were after. As the holocam panned the room, several Geonosians appeared on the screen, standing not too far off from the door the clones were about to blast apart. Their gaunt forms twitched and relaxed as they gestured, apparently talking to each other.

"Well there's your missing bugs, Dice," said Odds, bringing up the image Intel had given them prior to the invasion. "All checks out too; bigger, got wings, and check out those spears. Bet those'd hurt if they caught you across the jaw."

"Door's charged. Alright Shens, lets show 'em how much we can make them hurt!" came Flack's voice, and with the singular motion of a predator, the four commandos moved into position around the door. Dice pulled a flash-bang grenade from his clip and primed it, _Best save the thermal dets for when we run into real resistance_,he thought, counting down the seconds until they would all spring into action.

_Three…two…one…Now!_ He tossed the grenade in just as the doors began to slide apart, catching a glimpse of two Geonosians with a look he could only guess was surprise before everything went white.

_East. Through the worker catacombs. Now North. Use the access tunnels that lead into the factories. You are just behind the clones. _The information was transmitting so fast that Oorvo was beginning to feel as if the queen was merely using him as an extension of her will, like a long-reaching finger or wing that she could command at a simple thought. It didn't worry him, however. He _was_ an extension of his queen, and delighted in that role.

He had just managed to pull himself up through the access hatch and move several meters when suddenly, the orders ceased. Oorvo waited a few precious seconds before another order came; _Wait_.

Oorvo obeyed, freezing his movements, and taking a good surveillance of his surroundings. He was now in a maintenance tunnel leading from the Geonosian catacombs into the droidworks closer to the surface. The dim red lights lining the tunnel did little to assist his vision, but just a few meters ahead light poured in from the floor of the tunnel. Judging by its placement, Oorvo figured it was another access hatch; a grated section of the tunnel floor, probably leading to one of the factory rooms, allowing worker drones easy access to systems and settings. He crouched there, as frozen and unmoving as one of the great dome mounts near his hive. He waited, listening for any sounds outside the usual whir of machinery or distant clicks of worker drones. It hardly took several seconds before he saw the sudden flash of light and heard the accompanying low rumble from much further down the tunnel, as well as some high trills from some of his hive brothers.

Then, the orders came again, _Go. Warriors ahead dealing with clones. Travel ahead of the conflict, and wait for my signal._

Oorvo quickly began to scurry forward, clicking in annoyance each time his sonic blaster clanked against the wall of the metal tunnel. He heard the sounds of a fight below him as he got closer to the hatch, but the sounds quickly died away as he got closer…dying away like he knew his fellow warriors were dying below.

"_Fierfek_!" Odds cursed, wiping the goo from a recently stabbed Geonosian warrior off of his chestplate, "Why is it that I'm the one who always gets crud splattered on his armor?"

"I dunno, Odds," Neg said, eyeing the commando's sullied armor, "That shade of bugsquash-orange suits you; really brings out your visor."

Dice chuckled, then kicked at the spear one of the dead Geonosians was still clutching, "Hey, how much do you guys think these things would fetch on the bl—," his sentence was cut short by the sudden scurrying noise above them. All four commandos immediately snapped their weapons up, four DC-17m rifles aimed up at a single access hatch jutting out a bit from the ceiling of the hallway. There was just a moment of silence before another quick scuffling sound, and the briefest glimpse of a Geonosian behind the grated hatch.

Flack was the first to react, "Light 'em up Shens! They're in the kriffing maintenance ducts!"

The access hatch and surrounding maintenance tunnel was immediately doused with a withering amount of blasterfire, first simply blackening, then denting, and finally perforating the durasteel. Thinking quickly, Dice switched his DC-17 to the grenade launcher attachment, and fired through the now gaping hole in the hatch. He hoped the blast from his grenade would ensure the bug's death, otherwise, it would alert the factory, putting the entire place into lockdown and making their job that much harder.

Oorvo trilled in panic as the blasterfire began to puncture holes around him, scrambling to try and dodge all of it; moving back, then forward, then back again. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, he saw the blasterfire finally blow the hatch wide open. This was his chance. Backing up a few inches more, Oorvo dove for the other side of the hatch, and towards the safety of the droidworks beyond. As he rocketed forward, he heard the distinctive _tink_ of a grenade behind him, before being thrown towards the next access hatch by the blast. He felt an intense burning sensation against his back, worse than anything he had ever felt before, but didn't let it slow him down as he undid the hatch and dropped to the cold metal floor of the droid factory entrance. Realizing that the burning sensation was still there, he quickly rolled back and forth on the floor until it seemed the flames had been put out. On closer observation, however, he saw that his wings were burnt. The thin delicate membranes were now nothing; burned to a cinder right down to the wing housings along his shoulder blades.

Oorvo managed a low curse as he pulled himself up. As he eased his charred back into a standing position, he remembered his queen's last order, _Wait for my signal_. He hardly had a moment's rest to ponder this order before there was a sudden shaking of the ground. The tremors didn't feel like they were from above, but from far away. As he paused to guess at the source of the quakes, a single word from his queen assaulted him like a chorus of screams, all resonating in his and every other Geonosian's mind, bouncing between all of them as the word shook them to their core:

_NO!_

Oorvo's mind was suddenly on fire. Confusion. Rage. And…fear. Oorvo felt the waves of emotion pulsing through the hive mind, threatening to throw him into a panic as well. He was just wrenching himself back into reality when everything around him rumbled again with another wave of tremors. He steadied himself when suddenly the ever present thoughts and feelings of his hive went silent. For the first time since hatching, Oorvo heard silence.

Then the mental scream came again.

_NOOOOOOOOO!_

The pain this time was palpable, causing him to slump to the floor as he felt the wailing of every member of the hive cry out, his high trill joining them. The indomitable spirit that had kept this sector of Geonosis' people tactical and efficient against the cloned armies shattered, dissipating just as slowly as the mental scream did. Oorvo knew what had happened now: His queen, the mighty Vreefa the Grand, was dying. He felt his consciousness begin to ebb, as hers would for eternity. Dragging himself towards the door panel, he tried to lock it down, one last duty for his queen. Darkness faded in from all sides, but he fought it. He would not be denied this last service. Mustering up the last of his strength, Oorvo Glikk reached for the droidworks lockdown panel as he wondered if the other queens would survive…

With the second string of tremors, Flack tried to raise anyone on Republic channels through his helmet's comlink. His low expectations were met with the ubiquitous static for a while, until a voice broke through the static, "This is AT-TE Division Aurek, we read you Shen Leader."

"Aurek, what the _krif_ is going on out there! We've still got men down here, and it sounds like they're bombing the same _kriffing _facility we're in!" Flack yelled, venting his frustration on his fellow clone.

"Calm down, _vod_. I'm sure you're having just as hard a time as the rest of—" Aurek's attempt at placating Flack was quickly cut off by the latter's voice blaring over the comm.

"I don't need any of your _karking_ merc slang! I need intel on whats happening topside!" Flack barked.

There was an audible sigh of exasperation from Aurek's end of the line, then after a moment of silence, he answered, "Let me get a data uplink from FCP Gamma. Then I can give you an idea of things out here, OK?"

Regaining his composure, Flack replied, "Alright, and thanks…_vod_," he said, trying out the word sheepishly.

There was silence on the other end of the comm, during which all four commandos shuffled quietly before Aurek spoke again, "Looks like the 127th Gunship Wing has been ordered to perform bombings on several high-profile Geonosian structures. All of the targets were at least several clicks away from where I'm tracing your signal now, though." He paused, then scoffed, "Apparently I'm supposed to relay a few orders to you from the FCP. Sounds like they've lost touch with your communications engineer."

"Probably got picked off by one of the bugs we missed," muttered Neg, more to himself than anyone in particular; Odds grunted in agreement.

Aurek apparently thought this as well, judging by his somewhat somber tone, "Either way, there's a priority-one order to capture all indigenous across this entire sector of the planet…something to do with those bombings apparently."

An audible _CTHUNK-tssssssss_ from the nearby door cut off any response Shen Squad had to Aurek. Odds cursed, muttering something about the magnetic locks being sealed, and Flack sighed, "Hold that though, Aurek. I think we've got our first capture of the day."

The magnetically sealed door was just as much of a hassle as Dice had figured it would be. For several precious minutes, he attempted to hack into the door's console, trying to at least deactivate the magnetic locks. The only thing that kept him going was that he knew the Geonosian on the other side of the door was just as stuck as they were; locked in the room beyond. Having the whole facility under lockdown was an unfortunate turn of events, but it did have its benefits. He sighed after his fifth attempt at slicing the door's controls, only to have them reset their security code in response.

"Ya know," Odds said over his shoulder with a definite sense of sarcasm, "I hear a Jedi's lightsaber can cut through anything. Sure would make this door a lot easier to get through."

"Shut it, Odds," Dice snapped before sighing again, "I wish we had a droid for this kind of work, or at least a good doormaster slicing unit. They never give us the proper kit." As he finished his last sentence, the wire splice he was working on suddenly sparked, and the door indicator went from lockdown-red to standby-green.

"Looks like we may have to cancel ordering that lightsaber, Shens." Neg said, mocking Dice's previous statement. The rest of the squad chuckled as they moved into place around the now-functioning door. The commandos grew silent, slipping into their individual roles as they prepared to enter. Odds and Neg took position on either side of the door, with Dice and Flack guarding their flank. Flack gave the countdown signal before waving his hand for Odds and Neg to storm the room. The clones burst in, sweeping the narrow hallway with their blasters as they cleared the room before Flack came in as well, followed by Dice who backed in, checking for anything behind them. When all of Shen squad was in the room, Dice closed the door behind them, and turned to see the other three commandos staring down at something. He moved up next to them, and saw that it was the Geonosian warrior that had been in the ducts above. Judging by the singe marks along its back, and the scorched areas where its delicate wings had once been, he knew he at least managed to hurt it, but silently prayed that it wasn't dead.

Odds bent down to check if it still had a pulse, pulling the emergency first-aid kit from his pack, and applying bacta salve to some of the more grievous burns. "Yeah, he's alive, but barely," Odds was saying as he applied the salve. "You really did a number on him Dice. Even so, this one'll be a lot easier to transport since he's weakened. I wouldn't want to be the clone assigned to grabbing a battle-ready bug for the lab techs to poke."

Neg pulled out a set of stuncuffs and attempted to shackle the Geonosian's limp arms, but noticed the limbs were simply too boney, and resolved to binding him with some fibercord from his pack. "Hey boss-man, mind getting AT-TE Division Aurek back on the line so we can send off our little 'package'?" He said, turning his head in Flack's direction.

The other nodded, "Sure. Just make sure you get the postage right. We don't want him sent back to the Seppies." The rest of the squad laughed, then went silent as Flack waited for a connection. There was only a slight pause before the connection was established again.

"This is Aurek, is that you Shen Leader?" came the voice.

Flack answered, his tone obviously much more enthusiastic this time around, "The one and only. We have your package; one Geonosian warrior all ready to go. Is FCP sending someone to come get it? We have yet to complete our primary goal."

There was a short pause as Aurek communicated with Command before he replied, "Seems you boys are heading spaceward to accompany your bug. They're sending a _larty _to come collect you. FCP says RC-1138 and his Delta squad commandos will be taking over from here."

Even as Aurek finished speaking, the low regular thrumming of a Republic LAAT/i—or _larty _as the clones called them—could be heard somewhere outside of the confines of the corridor that Shen squad now occupied. A new voice, similar in sound but different in tone broke in, "This is Republic Low Altitude Armored Transport -slash- infantry; callsign Supa-fly. Please stand away from the East wall—it's gonna be gone in a few seconds anyway."

The Shens obeyed, dragging the limp Geonosian out of the way, only moving back once a gaping hole was formed as a portal to the outside. The LAAT/i was waiting for them, cargo doors open. With one look back, Flack silently cursed the planet before boarding the vessel, and listening to the comforting sound of the engines lulling him into a trance.


	3. Chapter 3

STAR WARS: ENEMY OF THE REPUBLIC

Chapter 3

Silence. It was the first time Oorvo Glik had ever experienced anything like it. No orders, no chatter, no updates or information, only an enduring silence. He awoke to seeing blurred forms moving in and out of his vision, taking turns shielding his eyes from a blinding light behind them. With a few blinks, Oorvo's vision coalesced into normal sight, showing him just what was standing around him. His body stiffened when he realized just where he was, and his heart sank as he looked into the faces of his captors.

The ugly human faces encircled him, all of them half-hidden by medical masks. The light above them made their features hard to distinguish, but Oorvo was more concerned with his own inability to move. Using his stubby eye-stalks, he rotated his field of vision to assess his surroundings. As he had expected, he was lying in a medical stasis field. Above him was a medical spot lamp, and a droid hovering over him, scanning his body for any fluctuations. To his left, Oorvo saw a transparisteel wall, with several more humans staring at him and talking amongst themselves. He opened his mouth to trill a curse, then thought of the humans observing him and remained silent.

One of the masked humans, a female judging by the pheromones, adjusted the gyros of the table so Oorvo was repositioned with his back facing up. "Extensive burn damage to the upper thorax and wing housings." Said the female.

"The wings are irreplaceable, but that doesn't concern us. These other wounds, however seem mostly superficial. The chitin protected it from anything too serious." replied a more masculine voice.

Oorvo knew that he was the "it" the voice was talking about, and he silently wished a thousand curses on the owner of the voice.

There was a sudden pain on his back quickly followed by a cool soothing feeling that spread over the entire area. His vision narrowed as the female talked of an initial bacta and sedative treatment before unconsciousness enveloped him.

When he woke again, Oorvo Glikk found himself in a small durasteel room with a table and a single light source; the force-wall rayshield that made up one of the walls. A holding cell obviously, Oorvo thought. He paced for a bit, examining the table bolted to the floor and the wall sections surrounding the rayshield. It dawned on him how cold it was in the room. Peering through the red haze of the force-wall, he could just see a viewport at the end of the hallway. An unending stream of pulsing blue scenery lay just beyond. They were in a ship _in_ _hyperspace_.

Panic started to fill his mind. Had he been connected to his hive, the resolve of his queen and fellow warriors would wash out any fear that tried to rise in him or anywhere in the hive. But the hive was—he paused, having difficulty even forming the thought—was dead. His hive was dead and his queen with it. The fear rose to a crescendo inside him and he huddled in a corner of the cell. His mind cleared somewhat when he heard the sound of boots on durasteel echoing towards him. From around the corner, two clone troopers turned, and made their way to his cell, "Hey buggie. Someone's here to ask you a few questions." One of the clones said, while the other began to make notes on a datapad.

No sooner had the clone spoken before the sound of boots was heard again, and both clones snapped to attention as another figure stepped around the corner and marched up to the cell. This one, a human with short, cropped black hair with matching hair near his mouth, wore no armor. Instead, he wore a grey uniform with some sort of Republic insignia pinned to the front breast. Thinking back to the various Confederacy of Independent Systems military leaders that he had guarded over the past few months, Oorvo could easily guess that this was a Republic officer. His bony hands flexed and he clicked impotently from behind the force-wall that separated them, wishing desperately that he could get some small vengeance for the death of his queen by killing this man.

The officer silently stared at Oorvo for some time, twitching the black hairs on his mouth like a pair of mandibles, then finally spoke, "You are currently and indefinitely a prisoner of war to the Galactic Republic." The brisk, monotone syllables paused as he studied the Geonosian again, then continued, "You are being held as a war criminal; helping and actively working as a member of the Geonosian species—native to the planet of Geonosis—with known enemies and seditionists of the Galactic Republic. Being charged with these crimes, you forfeit certain rights as a recognized sentient being, and may be subject to actions deemed illegal under normal questioning. Do you understand this?" He finished, with a look of smug victory stamped on his face.

Oorvo Glikk simply stood there, eying the human before finally responding in a clipped tone, making sure to emphasize each syllable and trill, "I am Oorvo Glikk; warrior caste and sentry to the late Regent Queen Vreefa of Geonosia. You will neither get answers nor satisfaction out of my capture, only the promise of my vengeance for murdering her Highness and the cultural genocide of my hive!"

One of the clones handed the datapad to the officer, who read it while glancing at Oorvo. Once he finished, he sneered, "Well, if we're doing grandiose introductions, then you should know the name of your captor and interrogator. I am second lieutenant Andradi, and though you say you will not talk, I promise you that I will get answers from you with or without your compliance."

He gave a predatory smile and added, "I'll be back in a short while. Then, we can talk some more."

Jedi master Razz-Nek-Tarr sat cross-legged in the private quarters he had been given upon his arrival aboard one of the Republic's new Acclamator-class assault ships; this one being named the_ Decisive_. The setup for him within the ship was rather haphazard, but so was the entire situation he found himself in. He meditated on the whirlwind of events that had occurred in the past several hours; the capture of Jedi Kenobi, the unexpected outbreak of war in the galaxy, the clone army that appeared seemingly out of nowhere, his sudden promotion to general...

He internally winced at that last thought. Jedi weren't meant to lead troops into battle or coordinate massive fleet invasions, or even be involved in the military. Obviously the officers on-board thought so as well. While none of them showed it on the outside—a testament to their military bearing—his keen Jedi senses showed him the animosity that roiled off of them. Some resented him because of his "free promotion", some because he was a Jedi, and others because he simply wasn't human. The lumpy, oblong head of a Cerean definitely stood out among the rest of the all-human crew.

Of those humans, though, the clones almost felt like something else entirely. Human by species, not by birth, they showed none of the resentment of their non-clone superiors. Even with their helmets obscuring their expressions, Razz could feel their awe and child-like curiosity about him. He had to admit, he felt about as much curiosity towards them. On several occasions he had attempted to speak with one or two alone after their hyperspace jump from Geonosis, but was always whisked away or otherwise distracted by his new duties and responsibilities.

Just as he thought on that, the buzzer for his quarters sounded, announcing someone at the door. Razz rubbed one of his four temples and in a tired voice droned, "You may enter," and settled in for more demands and instructions.

The door parted with a hiss, and lieutenant Andradi stepped in. With a slight cough to garner the Jedi's attention, Andradi waited until Razz-Nek-Tarr gave his full attention. With his eyes still closed, the Jedi sighed, "Yes, Second Lieutenant Andradi?"

Andradi gave a short and somewhat strained bow, "Master Jedi," he began in a tone somewhere between uneasy and annoyed, "we need you to attend to your duties as General again."

"More troops to lead into glorious battle?" the Jedi replied dryly.

"Not exactly," Andradi replied with a smile that sent vaguely dark ripples through the Force, making Razz open his eyes to look directly at the man. "As you are aware, we jumped from the system after unloading our second-wave troops on the planet, and extracting our first-wave casualties."

"Yes, I was aware of the situation and was reading several reports on the subject earlier." Razz said evenly, waiting for him to make his point.

Andradi nodded, but continued, "A secondary objective, however, was given to our troops on the ground—an order to detain and question any Separatist or indigenous prisoners. We have what we believe to be a high-ranking Geonosian guard on-board in the detention block. I would like you to use your Jedi powers to make him tell us everything we want to know."

Razz-Nek-Tarr studied the lieutenant for a few moments, gently probing his consciousness as well as thinking on the possible consequences of taking such an action . He replied in a slow, cautious tone, "Jedi mind-influencing only work on the weak-minded. Wouldn't a guard of such stature be strong-willed? Even trying such a technique on individuals like this only tends to make them more tight-lipped."

Second Lieutenant Andradi frowned, but the frown quickly gave way to that same predatory smile, showing his teeth like an acklay thinking of its next meal. "In that case, I suppose I will have to change plans a bit. I will call you down in a short while. As for his 'strong will', leave that to me." And turning on his heels, Andradi left the Jedi with new matters to meditate on.

The cell swam back into existence for the third time now. Oorvo tried to focus his mind, and felt the mental fog begin to clear a bit. Earlier, the officer, Second Lieutenant Andradi, had threatened him. Soon after departing, he had made good on his threat. Oorvo was quickly strapped down to the durasteel table of his cell, and the interrogations soon followed. Focusing on the here-and-now, he once again took stock of his surroundings. Yes, he was still on a starship, and still in the same cell. The room was still dark; bathed in no light but the dull, red glow of the force-wall that gave everything a haunting look. He tried flexing an arm against the thick, leather straps that secured him when suddenly, to his right, a small yellow beam of light snapped on. Looking over, Oorvo recognized the faint pulsing glow of his interrogator's photoreceptors.

"Your vitals indicate consciousness, organic." Came the cold, metallic voice of the G-6 interrogation droid. "I will call down my master, Lieutenant Andradi. He will be most pleased to see you lucid again. Until that time, I shall keep you company, and you can tell me some more about your hive."

Several minutes of question, counter-question and pain passed by before Oorvo heard footsteps down the hall as Andradi arrived. The G-6 paused upon seeing him, one of its appendages hovering inches away from Oorvo's upper thorax; a vicious-looking green fluid beading at the tip of the limb's hypo-syringe.

"That's enough for now Jeesix," Andradi said casually to the droid, "You've had your fun. Now I would like to speak with our guest."

The interrogator droid tilted its head down, its vocabulator making a fair attempt at disappointment, "But sir, we were so close to a real heart-to-heart moment."

Andradi simply glared at the droid. It withdrew and tucked the needle against its chassis, pivoted, and rolled back into the corner before powering down. "You'll have to excuse my droid," he said in a smooth but mocking tone, "Gresh-Sixes are known to grow more precise and talented the longer they go without a memory wipe, however, they tend to develop a few quirks along the way." He strode over to the side of the table and pulled out a datapad, no doubt for a recording and translation of whatever Oorvo had to say. "But you know all about droids, considering the factories churning them out on your homeworld, correct?"

Oorvo thought back to his hive and its sacred assembly factories entwined in them. He used the memory to fuel his righteous fury, giving the mental strength to fight against the mind-numbing chemicals already in his system. He remained stubbornly silent, staring at the human with loathing in his eyes.

Andradi scoffed, "They used you, you know. Those Separatists used your planet and resources, and when war came, they dropped you like a rotten juma fruit. They saw our fleets and warships in the skies of Geonosis and ran, leaving you behind." He spoke those last three words as hardly a whisper, leaning in as if telling Oorvo a well-guarded secret.

The Geonosian's mind raced. Cut off from his hive-mind seemed only to intensify the stupefying effects of the drugs, but as he heard the words, and repeated them inside his mind, they made more and more sense! Weakly, he nodded.

"Yes, yes." Andradi coaxed, honestly looking as if he sympathized with his captive, "But now is your chance to get your revenge on them." He turned the datapad around so Oorvo could see the screen. A topographical map of his and several other hives were projected, with red points of interest dotting the landscape, "This map shows certain key factories the Separatists are using on Geonosis. They are too deep for our bombers, and are securely locked. You, being a royal guard, must know the codes to access these facilities. All you need to do is tell me, and I will make sure you get your revenge on that Separatist scum."

Oorvo tried hard to focus on why he was this man's enemy. He grasped for any reason why he would not, and should not give the man any information, but the fog in his mind was too much. Why shouldn't he just tell Second Lieutenant Andradi everything he wanted to know?

Andradi saw it in the bug's face: confusion, internal conflict, and behind it all, the answers he wanted. Now was the time, he told himself. One more push, one more lie, and the bug would sing like a bird. "Remember, Oorvo, they betrayed you. Yes, the Separatists built their factories in your hive, but that's not all. Rebublic intelligence traces it all back to your queen. She let them in! They were all in league; all willing to let you and your kind die as they escaped, your queen included. The Separatist betrayed you, and your queen betrayed you. And now, you are all alone. Show them the price of their treachery. Give me those codes!"

Andradi's statement struck Oorvo like a blow to the head. He mentally latched onto it, using it to clear the cloud in his mind. His queen would never betray her hive. This he knew as absolute fact. Everyone in the hive, even the lowest worker drone, would have known of any treason immediately through their mental link! The absurdity of what this human was saying caused him to strain against his bindings. In a high, frantic buzz, he called Andradi's bluff, "Human Republic lies and slander! My queen would never betray her children! The factories were blessed by all regent-queens of Geonosia, and by our leader, Poggle the Lesser. The deceptions and trickery of demons will not sway me!"

The last syllable trailed off into a feverish buzz as Andradi's sympathetic smile melted into a hate-filled sneer. "I see we require a bit more persuasion," he said in a cold voice, walking over to the deactivated G-6 droid. Plucking the syringe it had been brandishing earlier, he walked back over, "I honestly don't know what this one does," he said as he flicked the container, "or the proper dosage. Why don't we find out together?"

A sudden jolt of pain shot through the Force, clawing at Razz's mind as a desperate animal seeking any means of escape. The Jedi instinctively recoiled from the source, but he found that he couldn't break his meditation; the Force seemed to want him to see this. The other mind, the one in such turmoil, seemed as if it, too, wouldn't let him go. Somewhere on the ship, someone was in pain—terrible pain.

Reluctantly, he reached out with his senses, touching the tormented soul. He felt fear and pain and confusion roiling inside, but pushed through these surface feelings to try connecting to the mind itself. Suddenly, there was a flicker of something different pushing towards the creature's mind just as he was. Razz felt it as a thin needle made of malice, trying to pierce into the mind and weaken it. He felt his mind begin to connect to the one in pain, and the outside malice soon felt as if it was piercing into his mind. Inhaling deeply, Razz called on the Force to allow him mental focus, trying to find the source of the pain even as he tried to shield the other mind from it. He probed whatever was causing the torment, and felt a trickle of cold touch his mind.

Razz-Nek-Tarr knew that cold touch immediately, and the shock of finding it here and now snapped him out of the dream-like state he had been in, leaving him breathless and covered in a cold sweat. His mind raced. The Dark Side was here? How could such a taint of the Dark Side of the Force be on-board their ship? Razz stood, wiping his face with a towel from the refresher, and tried to focus on what all this meant.

He mentally put aside the obvious problem of the touch of the Dark Side, and thought about the catalyst: the mind that had called out to him through the Force. He had read accounts in the Jedi Archives on Coruscant of the Unifying Force connecting the minds of those who were close; friends, lovers, even masters and their apprentices. But the mind that he connected with had been utterly alien, let alone that it was someone he had never even met before. But that didn't matter in the slightest. All he knew was that this being was in pain, and somehow the Dark Side surrounded it. All signs pointed to the fact that it was his duty as a Jedi to investigate.

Razz slid his simple brown cloak over his light tunic, and grabbed his lightsaber from the lampstand next to the door. He opened the door to begin scouring the ship, when the door slid open, bringing him face-to-face with Second Lieutenant Andradi, his hand about to hit the buzzer for the door.

"Ah, Mast—uh—_General_ Razz-Nek-Tarr, he said, lowering his hand from the buzzer and giving a sloppy salute as well as his unnerving grin, "I was just coming to see if you were in. I'm in luck to have caught you."

"In my profession it is said that there is no such thing as luck." Razz said dismissively as he tried to quickly sidestep the man.

Andradi adeptly moved in front of him, blocking his way, "Your duties are once again needed, General. I had said I would be back for your assistance with the prisoner, and now is the time." He stood poised, ready to block another attempt by the Jedi General to elude him, but Razz paused. The Force was tugging at him, giving a hint of guidance to go with the Lieutenant.

Nodding slowly, Razz obliged, "Yes. My duties again. I will do what I can for you. Take me to your prisoner, Lieutenant Andradi.


End file.
